300 quid ?

[RobF]

Hi -
Been commuting for years & now starting to do a bit more leisure riding at the weekend.
300quid or there abouts to buy a bike with this week. Narrowed it down to this shortlist -
Trek T30 (300)
Claud Butler Voyager (315)
Ridgeback Speed (300)
Norco VFR3 (260 +25 for some mudguards)

First 3 all very alike - find it hard to fault as they come with all the extras need for my cummute.
The Norco is something a bit different & leans more towards the race end of a Hybrid.
Bottom line is that I want a fast commuter that can do a bit more at the weekend.

So the classic old question - which bike for me?
Thanks in advance - Rob

 

[fossyant]

Personally I would stick with the top 3. Norco, who are they ?

 

[Peteaud]

Norco have been around for ages in MTB FYI

http://www.norco.com/

And very well respected.

I do like the Norco as well.

However the top 3 are all as good imho, i like Trek so if it was me, i would flip a coin between the Norco and the Trek.

 

[gbb]

Trek, 7 speed, revoshift.
CB, 9 speed, triggershift i think.
Ridgeback, 7 speed Ezfire
Norco, 8 speed, cant figure out the shifter system.

Personally, i dont like Revoshift, prefer EZfire but even then, ive had those break on me, but they're cheap to replace.
CB wins on speeds available.
There's not any other useful information, weights would be nice, i also notice the CB has a front sus (if i'm looking at the right year/model), that will inevitably add some reasonable weight.

Phhh, it could come down to the one you like the look of most...and thats not a bad thing sometimes.

 

[cyberknight]

What about btwin ?
Need to budget for a rack etc....
http://www.decathlon.co.uk/riverside-3-mens-id_8202746.html

 

[Crankarm]

Personally I would stick with the top 3. Norco, who are they ?

Aren't they Ammco bikes? I see lots of these. They look cheap and nasty generally ridden by chavs and students.

 

[cyberknight]

Aren't they Ammco bikes? I see lots of these. They look cheap and nasty generally ridden by chavs and students.

I dunno , its a canadian company , cycling active reviewd one of their road bikes and they gave it a reasonable review , well a good review when comparing it to a synapse .

 

[Globalti]

The Decathlon BTwin bikes are excellent value for money. The sales blokes there told me they make no profit on the bikes at all.

 

[Psyclist]

Norco road bikes are overpriced usually.

+1 to the Decathlon BTwin.

 

[RobF]

UPDATE - went for the Trek in the end, the saving on the original selling price & the fact that everything was already there (mudguards, carrier etc.) & as a bonus when I went to order Evans saw it in the goodness of their hearts to knock another 10% off the price.
Collect the bike tomorrow night - test it with its first hack to work the following morning!